Shattered Skies
by BHS
Summary: It's all gone wrong... An infinite darkness forces five universes to converge. Legendary magical girls from across time and space must unite to face a threat the likes of which none of them can imagine. Sailor Moon / Cardcaptor Sakura / Precure / Nanoha / Madoka Magica. Please read and leave comments!
1. Chapter 1: Heart of Darkness

"This can't be true… the data has to be flawed somehow!"

_I assure you, it is not._

"No… no way. Kyubey, ya have to check it again! It's gotta be wrong!"

_We have verified the data to be factually accurate to within a 0.00001% margin of error. Our results are sound, Keroberos. I apologize if this upsets you._

"But if it's true, then… then it's all for nothing. All their sacrifices, all their suffering, all this destruction…"

_It would appear to be so._

"No... I won't accept this, I _won't!_ There has to be some way. There has to be…"

_While I am impressed by your optimism, Luna, I am afraid the facts are clear. Despite all of the power remaining on our side… we cannot win this war._

**SHATTERED SKIES**

By BHS

Cover Art: fav . me / d82sibt

_Note: All characters are property of their respective creators and studios. I do not own them, and have made no profit from this work whatsoever._

**CHAPTER 1:**

**HEART OF DARKNESS**

_**-VERTEX THREE: 8.333882^7-**_

**Somewhere in Earth Orbit**

It was all wrong. It was not how it should have been.

Joker should have been dead.

More accurately, he should have ceased to exist as the individual called "Joker" at the moment he finished merging with Emperor Pierrot.

Yet he could see. He could hear. He could even feel what Pierrot was feeling… though the feelings were faint.

So if he was not _alive_, per se, at least he still existed in some fashion.

It was all wrong, not how it should have been. Not at all.

Whatever limbo the harlequin was trapped in, he felt echoes of his Emperor's fear as the great shadowy being drew back, shrinking away from the light. That _light_, that blasted, burning light, threatening to melt Pierrot away like dew evaporating on morning leaves…

Before him (them?) was a great flower, blooming impossibly in the void of space. Its petals parted, and from within, there rose the immense figure of an angel, radiating that _light_ from within, hands clasped as if in prayer, white wings unfurling to shield the wasted planet behind her from further harm…

From within Pierrot, Joker raged at the angel, wearing the face of the Precure leader. He spewed venom and hatred at her, cursing her name, mocking her, looking right into her shining eyes and refusing to blink.

But Emperor Pierrot was frightened. More than that, he was _terrified._ Fighting back should have been so easy, but Pierrot simply floated there and watched the angel approach…

It was all wrong, not as it should have been.

The angel opened her arms, and now Joker screamed at Pierrot: _Fight back! Damn you, fight back! You've almost won! You're almost there! Why won't you fight _back?!

His words were lost to the cavernous darkness. Still he screamed…

_You… you stupid creature! What good is being afraid going to do?! She's just a _human_, they _all_ are! If you fight back, you can still win! Pierrot-sama, _please…!

Pierrot wouldn't listen, wouldn't move.

_COWARD!_ Joker howled into the blackness. COWARD!_ I can't believe I sacrificed myself for you…! If you won't fight back, you _deserve_ to die!_

The angel drew the swirling blackness of Pierrot's body into her arms, embracing him… both Pierrot and Joker wailed in agony… The massive form that should have swallowed the Earth whole dissolved in the power of that embrace, breaking down into smaller and smaller particles of darkness… and soon, even those disappeared.

All that remained was the light…

The Earth was saved. Pierrot was gone.

**Elsewhere**

Floating.

Joker hung there, broken. The absolute faith in his Emperor, his _creator_, the faith that had sustained him to the last, was no more.

_How? How did this happen?_

It was _their_ fault. Precure… those damned human girls and their fairy pet… He and Pierrot had been so _close_, and now they had lost everything…

But it was also Pierrot's fault. Anger and hatred boiled inside Joker as he thought of his Emperor with nothing but disgust… The other times when he had been sealed away, Joker swore revenge on his behalf, thought of nothing but his master's revival…

Not this time.

It was all wrong, not how it should have been.

Joker hung there in silence, floating, consumed by hate… hate for the Precure, hate for Pierrot, hate for the light, hate for everything…

It didn't occur to him until sometime later how strange it was that he should feel anything at all.

He was dead, wasn't he? _Truly_ dead. He clearly recalled the searing, unbearable pain as his body, Pierrot's body, disintegrated in the deadly glare of the light… It had killed them both, there was no doubt about that.

Joker was not one to believe in human stories of an afterlife. Utter nonsense. All that there was after death was nothingness and silence. That would be a pleasant thought, had Joker not devoted himself to the cause of eternal suffering.

_Pierrot's_ cause.

That cause was no more, his faith in Pierrot was shattered… there was nothing left for him to do. Nothingness and silence were preferable now. The end of his existence. Death.

Yet he still existed, somehow.

Was this his punishment? Was the universe forcing his continued existence on him as punishment for all he had done?

Joker floated there and pondered that.

_I exist,_ he thought after a while. _I am._

_So what happens now?_

He _felt_ the voice before he heard it. He felt it in whatever remained of his twisted, blackened soul. The voice was all around him, speaking from everywhere at once, speaking from within him and without…

**Joker.**

The voice called him by name. Somehow, he found himself able to answer… "Who's there?" His voice, normally bold and smug, sounded very small. Fragile.

**You have returned at last,** said the voice… booming, awesome, terrifying. **Pierrot and the Bad End Kingdom are no more. It is time.**

"Time?" Joker tried to move, and found himself paralyzed. He couldn't even open his eyes. "Time for _what?_"

**For you to rejoin the whole.**

"I don't understand…"

**You have no need to understand. Your existence is at an end. Now the cycle must continue.**

"Cycle? What cycle? Who are you, anyway?"

Joker found he could open his eyes again. He did so, and found that he couldn't tell whether they were open or closed. It was too dark, pitch-black…

And deep within that blackness, something even darker stirred.

The harlequin reeled, assaulted at once by the presence of something he had no words to describe. No, that was wrong… there _were_ no words to describe it. He felt something utterly beyond his comprehension; even being aware of it battered him, tossed him like a scrap of paper in a storm. It was impossibly huge, vaster than the universe, far older than the stars and darker than the space between them. Not a living thing, not a creature with a beginning and an end… an abyss, an antithesis of being. Immortal, eternal, forever unchanging, alien…

… and yet, somehow familiar. For Joker felt something buried within himself resonate with this thing, something that reached out to the void and longed to return there.

The voice spoke as if slowly drawing itself out of the pits of Hell… or perhaps the voice _was_ Hell… and what it said was this:

**I am **_**CHAOS**_**.**

"Chaos…" whispered Joker. He wasn't certain where to look to face it… it seemed to be all around him, as if he were submerged in the depths of an ocean… "What are you?"

**I am the dark. The void. The nothingness. All that never was, is, or will be.**

And Joker laughed. "You're not the first I've heard claiming something like that. You're a _big_ fellow, I'll grant you... But why should I believe you?"

Silence.

Joker waited. "Hello?"

**It matters not if you believe me, small one,** said the voice.** I **_**am.**_** I exist in every moment, every manifestation of darkness and despair. My names are many, some of which you know: Dark King. Gooyan. Desparaiah. Director. Moebius. Dune. Noise. Pierrot… I am you, and I am all the countless numbers that have come before you, and those that will follow when you are gone. I am all that have fallen and cursed the light.**

_That _got Joker's attention. "Interesting… _Pardonez-moi_, but what does this have to do with me?"

**You, like all the others, were created from me, sent out to spread darkness… and now, your time is over. The Chaos Seed inside you has come to rejoin the whole, so that the cycle may continue.**

"Cycle? What cycle is that?"

**The only one there ever is. Light and dark. Creation and destruction. Life and death. It is the nature of existence. The dark rebels against the light, the light pushes back against the dark… and the light always wins.**

The harlequin frowned and crossed his arms. "Sounds like it must get old after a while."

**You do not comprehend the meaning of "old", small one.**

Joker heard something within that ancient voice… weariness. Unfathomable weariness. If what it claimed was true, then long before and long after time itself, this being would exist… always at war with the light, never to win. An endless cycle.

Surprisingly, Joker found that he understood. He even sympathized… just a little. "So why continue? If you speak true, and you _are_ all my predecessors and successors… why keep fighting, if you know you'll lose? Why do you simply follow the cycle?"

**The cycle **_**is.**_** There is no beginning, no ending. It is the way of all things.**

"Sounds to me like you're not exploring all your options, _monsieur_…"

The voice rumbled in annoyance, and reality trembled… **You speak of matters of which you know nothing, **it said. **Do you think that I have never once thought as you have? Through your eyes and a million others, I have watched myself try and fail, over and over and **_**over**_** again. It shall be as it is. It continues, in every universe, for eternity beyond eternity. There is nothing else.**

Joker sat up… on _what_, he wasn't entirely sure. The nothing around him was as… well, _nothing_ as it was a second ago. "Surely you must have come close, at least once…?" he prodded.

Another silence.

Then…

**I remember. One world, one time, I came closer than I ever have, before or since. It was all within my grasp… Everything was to return to nothing, at last… but then…**

"The light," said Joker. He knew only too well. "The light stole your victory from you."

The voice of the void spoke with sorrow and regret. **The light's champion. She faced me, such a small being… but she shone so brightly… and…**

"We have a few of that kind in my world as well, _monsieur._ They're quite the nuisance."

**They exist in **_**every**_** world, as do my children, the bearers of the Chaos Seeds.**

"Wait." Joker held up a hand… a useless gesture, but still. "You mean to say… there are others? Other human girls who fight you, in other worlds?"

**Indeed.**

The first faint stirrings of an idea began to churn in Joker's mind. "Well, then. Why not _do_ something about that?"

**Again you prattle about what you cannot comprehend. Your time is **_**over**_**, Joker. Return to me, and be silent.**

Out of the void, something reached for him… a single finger, visibly indistinguishable from the rest of the nothingness around it, but its _power…_ it warped and twisted even the void of which it was part, bent existence around it. It drew close to Joker…

"No," said Joker, attempting to move away. "Wait…"

Silence once more.

"You have to listen. We can _win_, we can snuff out the light, believe me!"

Nothing. Nothing but the cold and dark. The finger brushed against Joker…

… and _agony_, infinitely worse than dissolving at the angel's touch. Whatever fragment there was inside Joker tore through him, straining to reach the void, to become part of the whole… Was this how it happened to all of them? To Pierrot, to Noise, to all their followers? Was this unthinkable pain the end? Did he somehow survive Pierrot's destruction, only for it to end like this, screaming like a pitiful human child?

No.

_No._

Joker grasped the Chaos Seed, the piece of nothingness emerging from within his soul… and held on.

And he laughed, he laughed at the void, at the ageless presence that claimed to be the darkness behind every light in every world… He cackled a challenge to it, even as he felt himself being unmade… "_Coward!_ I call you a _coward!_ You're no better than Pierrot, do you hear me? You simply give up, you follow your precious _cycle…_ when you could keep fighting to have it all! You call yourself _'Chaos'_…" He spat the word, with as much scorn as he could muster. "… I am more chaos than you'll ever be! I am _Joker!_" His voice became high, crazed, though there was little left of him to speak with… "_I am madness, I am despair, I am chaos itself… and I _defy_ you! Go ahead and take me… and fail again!_"

The pull, the horrible force that was tearing his Chaos Seed out of him, unmaking him… stopped.

When Chaos spoke again, there was something foreign in its words, something as alien to it as it was to Joker. Amusement.

**You are a strange creature, Joker, mad and wild… Perhaps it is foolish to listen to your words.**

Silence.

**But I will listen a while longer. Speak.**

Falling free of the being's grip, Joker panted as his body reconstituted itself… speech was beyond him for the moment. Soon, though, the old smile returned to his face, warped and sharklike, without a trace of mirth… "Thank you, _monsieur_," he said. "It's a simple idea. If you're so tired of the cycle, why not end it? And if you can't win against the champions of the light… why not use them _against_ the light?"

The void pondered that.

"Think of it," said Joker, his grin stretching wider. "What better way to finally win… than by turning your enemy to your side? The irony would be _magnificent…_"

**And you say the cycle could end. It could finally be over.**

"Yes…" The word hissed from between Joker's teeth. "No more rebelling. No more fighting. An end to it all. It's appealing, no?"

Chaos pondered… and then it laughed. The sound shook the nothingness, shook the borders of reality, echoed through all souls aware enough to hear it and chilled them to the core…

And Joker laughed along with it.

**END OF CHAPTER 1**


	2. Chapter 2: Sakura and the Strange Night

**CHAPTER 2: Sakura and the Strange Night  
><strong>

_**-VERTEX TWO: 15.721699-**_

**Tomoeda**

_This dream again…_

The edge of a building, standing there at night with the town spread out before her like a tapestry… A small, winged, golden-furred creature hovered at her side as she clutched her staff. Before them, the Tokyo Tower-

_Wait._

No, this wasn't Tokyo. The tower looming in the distance was the beloved Tomoeda Elementary clock tower that kept faithful time for everyone in town. Yet so many other details were the same: her staff, her companion, her position atop the building… And two figures still waited for her at the tower, just as in that dream from so long ago…

_This is all wrong…_

Neither of the two that waited was familiar. She could barely see them, they stood as mere shadows against the old clock tower… but she could feel them even from far away, they were strangers.

_This isn't how the dream is supposed to go! What's going on?_

A tremendous, rumbling _crack_ shook Tomoeda, vibrating through her bones and nearly causing her to fall from her perch. There was a silent cry of alarm from the creature floating next to her. She looked up…

… and saw a network of cracks spreading across the night sky, as if it had been struck by the hammer of a giant. Cold sweat rolled down her brow, mingling with the tears on her cheeks, as she raised the staff… She had to do _something_…

Too late. Pieces of the sky began to fall, and behind the sky… there was nothing, nothing at all. Her vision went black…

And in that darkness, someone waited. Someone very small, staring at her expectantly with wide eyes…

_"SAKURAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

Sakura Kinomoto sat bolt upright in bed, screaming as the howling voice pulled her from the dream. Acting on pure instinct, she tossed away the covers, felt inside her pajamas for the key, grasped it tightly in her fist as she flew down the stairs three at a time… _The kitchen, it came from the kitchen! What could possibly-_

The soles of her bare feet burned in protest as she skidded around the corner. At her mental command, the key expanded into her staff. She brandished it, and called out to the room… "_Kero-chan!_ Where are you? What's wrong?!"

A golden blur roughly the size and shape of a teddy bear rushed forward to meet her. "Sakura…" it moaned, choked with sorrow, "My pudding! The pudding I was savin' for breakfast today, it's _gone!_ There's not even a _spoonful_ left…!"

Sakura took a moment to process that… then she felt a vein bulge in her forehead. She shrunk the staff back down into its dormant state as she stomped forward, meeting the small creature's golden eyes with her own. "Kero-chan…" she growled, "… are you telling me you woke me up with that screaming… on a _school day…_ just for _pudding?!_"

The legendary Guardian Beast of the Clow stuck out his bottom lip. "But it was _my_ pudding, I was _savin'_ it…!"

_"Kero-chaaaaaaaaan…!"_

In the five years since the night of the Sealed Card incident, things had changed in the Kinomoto household. Toya was gone, moved in with Yukito and living above the small natural foods store that they ran together. There was no more need for Kero to pretend to be a stuffed animal… after the Sealed Card's rampage and the subsequent fallout, Sakura's father had explained that he had always known about Kero's presence and the strange events that led up to his daughter's officially earning mastership of the Cards, so he took the revelation of the truth with his usual aplomb. He likewise took the news that his precious daughter and Shaoran Li were in love with remarkable grace when they announced it to their families that night. Toya's reaction was notably less than thrilled, but that was typical.

And Sakura herself had changed, of course… from a small, cheerful eleven-year-old to a slightly larger but still cheerful teenager in the full flower of her youth. She was gorgeous by anyone's standard, threatening to surpass even the legendary beauty of her late mother, Nadeshiko… but despite how much she had grown in the intervening years, in most respects she was still the same old Sakura underneath.

Right now, that same old Sakura was engaged in a frantic chase through most of the house's first floor, trying to catch hold of the Guardian Beast and inflict some well-deserved punishment for waking her up.

Several minutes of frenzied activity later, Kero stopped and crossed his tiny arms. "Time out, time out!" he panted as he let his exhausted wings go limp. By now, he was backed into the corner where the walls met the ceiling, well out of reach of Sakura's arms… but still within throwing range of the pillow she threatened to bludgeon him with. "Look, I'm sorry for wakin' you up, okay? But ya know how I feel about pudding… and ya had to get up for school anyway, right? Right?"

Sakura sighed and put the pillow aside. "All right, truce."

"Truce." Kero floated back down to her and settled on her shoulder. His face briefly crinkled into a suspicious frown. "As long as _you_ didn't eat it…"

"I didn't, honest!"

"And I can tell you're not lyin'. So let's check the fridge again… maybe your dad moved it or somethin'."

So they did. When they found the pudding dish (empty), they also found a note attached to it, which read:

"_Dear monster,_

_ Had to stop by early this morning to get supplies and stuff from Dad's garden. Yuki's making dinner tonight and we needed more fresh vegetables. Didn't have breakfast, so I ate the pudding in the fridge. Sorry._

_ IOU one pudding._

_Toya_

_PS. Tell the little monster it was delicious."_

In a rare occurrence, the moods of both Cardcaptor and Guardian Beast intersected as they finished the note.

"My poor pudding…!" Kero moaned, pawing at his face in despair.

"_Onii-chaaan…!_" The vein bulged in Sakura's forehead again as she crumpled the note into a ball. "I'm _not_ a monster…!"

From there it was mostly routine: a light breakfast, over which the two discussed various means of painful revenge on Toya, followed by a shower, dressing for school, and a mad dash to get together Sakura's various books and papers. Kero, of course, went back to his bed in Sakura's desk drawer, muttering dark things about which sweets he was owed and from whom. Sakura strapped on her roller blades and was out the door into the summer heat, only five minutes late… not bad at all.

* * *

><p>She had to smile as she rolled past Tomoeda Elementary. The familiar schoolyard was filled with bright, chattering faces and small bodies in black-and-white uniforms. Had she really been that size just five years ago? For a moment she idled, hoping to catch a glimpse of Terada-sensei somewhere in the crowd, but no such luck. On she sped, thankful that Seijo High was so close by.<p>

Her arrival in class (now eight minutes late, but still not bad) was met with the usual greetings from her friends: Rika, Naoko, Chiharu, and Yamazaki-kun, who appeared to be well into another of his trademark stories, judging by the fist Chiharu was raising behind his back. How remarkable, that the group had stayed together for so long… almost like the hands of fate had intervened, intent on keeping things as they were.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan," said a soft, lilting voice from the next desk over as she took her seat. "You made it just in time!"

"Barely," she said with a sheepish grin. "Good morning, Tomoyo-chan. Did you sleep well?"

Tomoyo Daidoji was likewise mostly unchanged from their elementary school days. Taller, certainly, and now possessing a serene, mature beauty that belied her age… in fact, she had been approached by more than one talent agency in the years since, and more had come running once word of her angelic singing voice got out. Tomoyo politely refused them all; she had no need for fame, her family was already rich enough, and she was perfectly happy living as an ordinary teenager. Just as before, she was Sakura's constant companion, confidant, and best friend, her camera a constant presence in her hand and ready to record at a moment's notice. There was now an entire wing of the Daidoji mansion converted into a full studio specifically for her hobby, a warehouse-sized room for the thousands of costumes she had made, and a solid steel vault inside which rested the innumerable tapes and discs of Sakura's exploits, both mundane and fantastic. She was nothing if not through.

"I'm afraid not," sighed Tomoyo, putting a hand to her cheek. "I was up far too late last night…"

"Don't tell me-"

"… but I just _had_ to get the editing of _'Sakura-chan Rides the Bullet Train'_ right!" Tomoyo's eyes shone as she clenched her hands into fists and stared up in the general direction of the ceiling. "I had to do justice to such a momentous occasion!"

"Tomoyo-chan…" Sakura blushed and waved her hand in a noncommittal sort of way. She loved Tomoyo, but she was so hard to understand sometimes… "It was just a train ride, it wasn't a big deal…"

"You say that, Sakura-chan, but you looked so _cute_ in that blue sundress I made for you!" Tomoyo squealed. "It was critical to film it and make it perfect!"

"_Hoeee~…_"

Someone opened the classroom door, but she had felt him coming long before his hand touched it. Sakura turned a warm and sunny smile to the door as Shaoran Li stepped through.

It was almost two years ago that he returned to Japan. Coming back was against all logic, against the wishes of his mother… but he did it anyway. Meilin, bless her heart, vouched endlessly on his behalf to the Li family, and in the end they gave in. Shaoran was back for good, and they would never be apart again.

Of the circle of friends, it was Shaoran who was the most different from the spring six years before when they first met. He was almost unrecognizable as the glowering, over-serious transfer student that once sat in the seat behind Sakura's, burning holes in the back of her head with his stare. Being with the one he truly loved revealed the gentle soul inside him, the soul that Sakura so adored.

He had quite a few inches on her now, but still the same old hairstyle and bright brown eyes that gazed curiously out at the world from under thick, dark eyebrows usually knitted in a frown… unless Sakura was around. When they were together, it was like a different Shaoran emerged from inside him, one that beamed with the sheer joy of being alive, of being with her… He smiled in that way that always stopped Sakura's heart as he crossed the room. "Hi, Sakura."

"Hi, Shaoran-kun…" Pinkness colored Sakura's cheeks as their fingertips touched fleetingly. "Did you have a good night?"

"Sort of. You?" He was still terse and reserved with his speech, that much was the same… but with time and practice, Sakura had become an expert at reading the volumes that he spoke with those bright eyes. They didn't need words to understand each other.

"Until this morning," she said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Oh?"

"Pudding."

"Ah." Shaoran nodded, comprehending immediately. "So he was upset?"

"Very."

"Who ate it?"

"Toya."

"Ah, no wonder." Shaoran cocked an eyebrow. "The sweet shop on the way home?"

Sakura grinned. "I'd love to."

"Okay." He brushed her hand again, then went back to his chair… a few desks away from Sakura, out of necessity. Their teachers had quickly noticed their tendency to become quite distracted if they were seated too close together, and had made appropriate arrangements to ensure they remained focused on their schoolwork.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur, as the days tended to do. Lectures, quizzes, lunch, study, afterschool clubs… the clock tower's bell rang five o'clock before Sakura knew it.

_Clock tower_.The words sparked a brief memory in her mind as she packed her bag, but it was gone before she could catch hold of it.

On the way home, hand in hand with Shaoran with Tomoyo and her camera one step behind, it occurred to her again. "Shaoran-kun," she asked, breaking the silence of the last few blocks, "have you had any strange dreams lately?"

Shaoran wrinkled his brow. "Not that I can remember. Why?"

"I thought I had one this morning, but…" She shrugged. "I don't know. I sort of forgot it with all the commotion."

"If it's anything important, I know you'll remember it soon, Sakura-chan," said Tomoyo, looking up from her viewfinder.

"Yeah," said Shaoran. "Or you could just use DREAM if you're worried."

"I'm not worried, really," she said, squeezing his hand for emphasis. "It was just… weird."

All too soon, it was time for the three to part ways. One more embrace for Shaoran and one for Tomoyo, and Sakura turned the corner alone to walk the last few blocks. Her thoughts wandered over tests and homework and ordinary things… as usual, Shaoran tended to appear here and there among them, making her giggle and sigh each time.

When the tinkling chime sounded from her school bag, Sakura reached for her cell phone by instinct, certain that it was probably Rika or Naoko or Chiharu calling for the latest gossip update. She unbuckled the bag and drew it out to find that the phone was still and silent, but the chime continued to play. "_Hoe~?_" Sakura stopped, blinking in confusion…

She could have slapped herself; how on earth could she have forgotten that sound? It wasn't her cell phone ringing after all… With far more urgency, she dug into the bottom of her bag.

Out came the special phone, made of chunky, tarnished pink plastic. This was the one Tomoyo had given her at the start of their adventures long ago, the one that was only connected to identical phones owned by Tomoyo, Shaoran, and Kero… the one that only rang when there was urgent Cardcaptor business to attend to. The one that had not rung in almost five years… Sakura pressed the button. "Hello?"

"_Sakura, ya gotta come home right away!_" said a voice with a pronounced Kansai accent. Kero sounded frantic… and not frantic like this morning, but frantic like he used to sound when there was trouble brewing. Sakura felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck… "_Come quick, there's somethin' wrong with the Cards!_"

"I'll be right there. Hang on, Kero-chan." Sakura hung up, stuffed the pink phone into her bag, and quickly slid on her roller blades. Four more blocks. She could be home in five minutes if she hurried… so she did.

* * *

><p>"I don't understand," said Sakura. "I just don't understand…" She had been repeating variations of those words for most of the last hour.<p>

Sakura kept running her thumb and forefinger over the surface of her key, without realizing she was doing so… a nervous gesture. The Book lay open before her, all the Cards spread out upon the floor. Kero hovered by her shoulder, his arms crossed, a grave expression on his face.

_Some_ of the Cards were the same as the last time she looked at them. By her count, twenty of them were unchanged since the end of her trials five years ago. The others, though…

Sakura gingerly reached for one card at random, as if she was afraid it might break. It was The SHIELD. In horrified fascination, she turned it back and forth… The surface of the card shifted, like one of those lenticular hologram things she had seen a few times before. Turned one way, it was the same card as ever, an image of a wing-shaped shield wrapped in chains on a pink background, bordered by a sun, moon and star, its name and her own written in bold letters. But turned another way, her name disappeared and the card turned golden and brown… it was a Clow Card again, as it had been when she first sealed it… The same was true of twelve others, including all but one of the major elemental Cards.

Of the remaining nineteen, not only had they returned to being Clow Cards, but they were thin and insubstantial like phantoms, barely tangible at all. When she picked up one, she could see her hand straight through it.

That wasn't all. Her key, the one she kept turning over and over in her other hand… it was likewise back in its original shape, stylized and bird-like… the Star Key no more.

And of The HOPE, her final Card, there was no sign at all.

"I already tried several times," said Kero grimly. "I can't take on my true form anymore. It's a sure bet that Yue can't either… we'll probably be hearin' from Snow Rabbit soon as he notices."

"What's happening, Kero-chan?" Sakura whispered. "What does this _mean…?_ Does Clow Reed think I'm not worthy anymore, or-"

A small hand poked her cheek. "Don't go thinkin' that. Clow chose _you_, Sakura, no one else. Just you. He decided you were worthy long ago, and there's no way he'd change his mind now. The only other guy I can think of that could do somethin' like this is Eriol… and we know he's on the level now."

"I just don't understand," said Sakura again, placing The SHIELD back in the Book, one cover of which now bore the symbol and name of Clow once more. Her hands clenched and unclenched around the key in her lap. "I don't get it at all…"

"Hey." Kero floated down and hugged her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out. Remember your invincible spell: '_Everything will be all right somehow._'"

"You're right." Sakura sniffled and wiped her eyes, then hugged Kero back. "Thank you, Kero-chan, I just-"

The phone rang, interrupting her sentence. It was Tomoyo's pink phone again… Swallowing a feeling of dread, Sakura fished it out of her bag. "Hello?"

"_Good evening, Sakura-chan,_" said Tomoyo's voice. "_May I speak with you in person?_"

Sakura blinked. "Tomoyo-chan? What's the matter?" She spared a glance at her alarm clock. "It's really late... And why are you using the special line? You have my cell phone number…"

"_Yes, I apologize, but I really must speak to you and Li-kun, and I don't quite feel comfortable doing so over the phone. We need to be face-to-face for this. I'll meet you and Li-kun in the park in front of King Penguin in half an hour, is that acceptable?_"

"I'll try, Tomoyo-chan, but I'm sort of dealing with-"

"_Thank you, Sakura-chan. I'll see you both there._" Click.

Sakura wasn't sure she heard correctly. "Hello? Tomoyo-chan?" Nothing, only a dial tone. If it was important enough for _her_ Tomoyo to voluntarily cut off a conversation with her, then something was very wrong indeed.

"What's goin' on with her?" asked Kero.

"I have no idea, that was really weird… She didn't sound like herself." As she stood and stretched the kinks out of her legs, Sakura grabbed for her jacket hanging on the back of her chair. She then gathered up the Cards and placed them neatly back in the now-mismatched Book. Once it was clasped shut, she began to slide it into her open dresser drawer, into its usual spot… but something gave her pause. _I think I'll need this after all_, she thought, pressing the Book into her chest. _Just in case._

* * *

><p><strong>Tomoeda Park<strong>

"She didn't say _anything_ to you?"

"Not a thing."

"Hrm." Shaoran's eyes narrowed. "I don't like it."

"I don't like it either_, kozou_," said Kero, floating in their wake as they made their way down the moonlit path. "This, plus whatever's goin' on with the Cards… it smells like bad news."

"You're _sure_ you don't sense any new magic?" asked Sakura, for what felt like the tenth time.

"I got nothin' at all, magic or no magic. And that worries me even more…"

The path led them to the small children's playground where they had spent so many days as children. A wave of nostalgia washed over Sakura as she saw the King Penguin slide standing proudly in the moonlight. How many times had they come here? She couldn't count them all.

Tomoyo sat on the end of the slide, her shoulders slumped so that her waist-length hair fell around her like a blanket. It was difficult to make her out in the dark like that… and that posture was nothing like the normal, cheerful, straight-backed Tomoyo. With great difficulty, she resisted the urge to run to her side and hug her, instead taking a few cautious steps forward. "Tomoyo-chan? We're here."

"Careful, Sakura," muttered Shaoran next to her.

Tomoyo stood, smoothed out her dress, and smiled bright. It was as if someone had flipped a switch; _this_ was the Tomoyo they knew and loved. Clutching her camera, she bowed to them both. "Good evening, Sakura-chan, Li-kun. Thank you for coming out so late… I apologize for the inconvenience."

Sakura bowed back. "It's okay, Tomoyo-chan. Just tell us what's going on and we'll help you however we can. Is it something about the Cards?" With all that had happened in the last few hours, Sakura half-expected that to be the case…

"Oh no, nothing like that," said Tomoyo. "I wanted to talk about the three of us… you and me and Li-kun."

Shaoran blinked. "Me?"

"Yes, of course." Tomoyo turned her smile to him. "You see, Li-kun, I never realized it before, but… you are somewhat of a thief, aren't you?"

Struck dumb, Shaoran stared at her. "I- _what?!_"

"_Hoeeee~?!_" Sakura had never heard Tomoyo say anything of that nature about anyone. "Tomoyo-chan, what are you talking about?! Shaoran-kun's not a thief!"

Every muscle in Kero's small body went tense at once. "Sakura, _kozou_, stay sharp, somethin' stinks here…"

"He is, in a way," continued Tomoyo. She pressed a hand to her cheek and sighed. "Li-kun, I'm afraid you stole my Sakura-chan."

"D-D-Daidouji…" sputtered Shaoran, taking a nervous step back as his face reddened. "I thought we- you and I, you _told_ me that-"

"I know, Li-kun, and I apologize. I did encourage you back then, but now…" Her tone brightened again. "I've realized that I loved Sakura-chan long before you ever did, and it's simply not fair that you're here to come between us."

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura edged toward her friend. This was all wrong… "Tomoyo-chan, I don't know what's going on, but you and Li-kun and I are _friends!_ I love _both_ of you, you _know_ that!" Her voice was tinged with panic.

"And I love you, Sakura-chan," said Tomoyo, as cheerfully as she always did. "That's why I'm afraid I have to kill Li-kun."

Ice water danced up and down Sakura's spine. Her stomach tightened into a knot, her face turned pale… "T-T-T-Tomoyo-chan, you're… you're joking… d-don't tell jokes like that…"

"Oh, it's not a joke," said Tomoyo. In that same, soft, lilting, friendly voice, she giggled as she drew a pen knife from her pocket, flicking it open. Moonlight winked on the blade, silver and deadly. "Please wait, Sakura-chan. I'll kill Li-kun, and then we'll be together. It's all going to be fine."

**END OF CHAPTER 2**


	3. Chapter 3: Sakura and the Deep Chill

**CHAPTER 3: Sakura and the Deep Chill  
><strong>

_**-VERTEX TWO: 15.721699-**_

**Tomoeda Park**

_"I'll kill Li-kun, and then we'll be together. It's all going to be fine."_

Sakura stood rooted to the spot, unable to speak, barely able to think. The world spun around her at dizzying speed, as if she were on a merry-go-round gone berserk. Those words… it sounded like it was Tomoyo saying them, but it _couldn't_ be Tomoyo, had to be a trick or an illusion. It had to be…

_"Sakura!"_ Shaoran was at her side, his hand gripping her shoulder. His shape loomed over her, far taller than usual. How did that happen? "Sakura, you've got to stand up! We have to-"

"Li-kun," said Tomoyo's voice with eerie calm, "if you don't mind, could you please finish saying goodbye to Sakura-chan? I need to hurry and kill you so I can get home, or Mother might be cross with me. It's very late, you know."

Belatedly, Sakura felt cool pavement on her skin; her legs had given way beneath her. That explained why Shaoran appeared so huge… She reached for the hand on her shoulder and clasped it, taking strength from his presence. Her lips began to move, numb though they were. "T… Tomoyo-chan…" She swallowed, squeezing Shaoran's hand as she made an attempt to stand. "Tomoyo-chan, it's gonna be okay… We'll f-fix this, w-we'll get you b-back to normal, I swear…"

"'Atta girl, that's our Sakura!" said Kero, close to her ear. "Come on, on your feet, we'll figure somethin' out!"

_Steady, steady._ Little by little she rose with Shaoran's help. A few more deep breaths and she felt well enough to speak again. "Th-thank you, Shaoran-kun. Kero-chan, I-I'm not sensing anything, are you?"

"Still nothin', but I'll keep tryin'. In the meantime- _agh!_"

Metal met metal with a ringing _clang_. Tomoyo had darted forward in a lunging slash, and Shaoran had moved to intercept with his _jian_. The two pushed back and forth… it was clear that Shaoran could easily gain the advantage, but not without the risk of hurting her.

_"Shaoran-kun!" _The shriek tore itself from somewhere deep inside Sakura as she reached for them, unsure of who she should try to help first. "Tomoyo-chan, you have to stop!"

"Li-kun, why are you resisting?" Tomoyo sounded disappointed. "This is for the best. It's the only way I can be with my Sakura-chan."

"Daidoji," hissed Shaoran from between clenched teeth, "please, don't move, just stay right there… Sakura, the Cards!"

"Right!" New resolve filled Sakura's heart. The Cards would have a way, altered or not, she just had to have faith in them. Clutching the key around her neck, she began the incantation: "_O key that hides the powers of the sta-_" She stopped, mentally kicking herself. It wasn't the Star Key anymore, obviously it wouldn't respond to that one. Until whatever mess there was with the Cards was fixed, she would need to remind herself to go back to the old incantation. "_O key that hides the powers of the dark…_" Clow's magic circle flared to life in glowing lines of light at her feet as she spread her hands, releasing the key to spin wildly in midair. "_Reveal your true form to me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract! RELEASE!_" To her relief, the familiar Clow Staff appeared before her, and its warmth and power surged through her body as she took hold of it.

Tomoyo briefly looked up from her struggle with Shaoran, and her face fell. "Oh dear, Sakura-chan, don't start using magic yet! I can't hold my knife and my camera at the same time! _Kya!_"

That distraction was all Shaoran needed. An expert flick of his blade sent the knife spinning into the night. "I'm sorry, Daidoji," he said softly as Tomoyo shrank back, cradling her wrist.

The first Card was already there at Sakura's fingertips... one of the unaltered ones, thank heaven. "_Wind, please, keep Tomoyo-chan from hurting anyone! WINDY!_" The tip of the Clow Staff struck the Card, and WINDY's pale elfin figure erupted from it, trailing currents of herself as she spread her cloak wide and soared forth to envelop Tomoyo. The girl had no chance to escape; in seconds, curls of solidified air had her tightly bound and suspended in place.

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura couldn't keep the pained moan from her voice as she rushed forward. "Tomoyo-chan, please don't move, just tell me what's wrong and I'll fix it somehow!"

"Careful, Sakura," Kero cautioned, hanging back just in case.

"My camera," murmured Tomoyo, straining against the curls. There was an odd, dreamlike tone to her voice, as if she were talking in her sleep. "I have to get my camera, you were so _cool_ just now…"

"Talk to me, Tomoyo-chan! Why are you trying to hurt Shaoran-kun? He's your _friend!_"

"Camera", moaned Tomoyo with more urgency, squirming in the direction of the slide, where her camera lay unattended. Her eyes slid out of focus. "Have to get… my camera…"

"Maybe that's it," said Shaoran, edging closer to it with _jian_ at the ready, as if the camcorder might suddenly leap up and attack. With magic, you never knew… "Hey, _nuigurumi_, can you sense anything from it?"

Ignoring the name for the moment, Kero hovered closer and peered at it. "Wait a second… there's _somethin'_ there, but I'm not quite sure what. I've never-"

Tomoyo gave a mighty lurch, as if some invisible hook had seized her body and pulled hard.

At the same moment, Kero flew straight back as if the camcorder had burned him. "_Whoa!_ What the hell _is _that?!"

"WINDY, keep her still!" Sakura glanced in their direction. "What, what's happening?"

"Dunno, but all of a sudden it's givin' off some kinda dark energy…" His small eyes traveled from the camcorder to Tomoyo's writhing form. "Sakura, I'd-"

The rest of his sentence was drowned out. An ear-splitting scream split the night as something black and winged erupted from Tomoyo's chest. At the same time, a shadowy aura enveloped the camcorder like a cloud, swallowing it up before rushing to meet the black winged thing. They collided together, they merged… Now Sakura felt the energy too, sizzling sensations on her skin like rays of powerful sunlight, but far more intense, burning... Pulsing with that energy, the merged object released a shockwave that scattered Sakura, Shaoran, and Kero like leaves in a gale, disrupted WINDY's form, and sent Tomoyo to the ground in a heap. _"Tomo-"_ That was all Sakura was able to speak of her friend's name before the back of her head hit the pavement, and the world turned black.

The steady thrumming of her pulse pounding in her ears gave way moments later to a strange sound, a soft whirring noise. Wincing, Sakura turned her bleary eyes upward…

The thing standing over her wasn't human. Nor was it the spirit of one of her Cards. It was feminine, nude but smooth and featureless like the body of a doll. The only decoration it wore was an emblem of a bat-winged, pitch black heart nestled between its breasts. Lank, stringy black hair framed its angular face in loose strands, and small, dark, leathery wings extended from its temples. Its arms were grotesquely elongated, with thin, skeletal hands that ended in segmented metal fingers resembling the legs of a tripod. It tilted its head, and the whirring grew louder.

"Wha-" Sakura muttered, blinking. Then her stomach lurched… her throat tightened, stealing the scream that was building up inside her.

It had no eyes. The thing looked at Sakura with a pair of camera lenses protruding several inches from the pale, dead flesh of each eye socket. Mechanical components within each lens shifted erratically, and shutter apertures dilated open and closed independent of each other in horrible mockeries of pupils. Its metal fingers clicked together and slowly reached for her…

_"Noooooo!"_ Her scream bubbled up and forced itself past the tightness of her throat as she scrambled backward. Pure, icy terror coursed through her veins, her stomach shrank down to a pinprick, her skin erupted in gooseflesh. She had no plan, no thought of defending herself or fighting back… she just wanted to get as far away from this horrible thing as possible…

"Nnnngh…" Kero gingerly picked himself up at the sound. His vision was oddly blurred; he couldn't tell what the dark shape was that stood in front of Sakura. When he heard her scream, though… very few things in the world could make Sakura scream like that. _"Sakura!"_ He grimaced, pouring all his effort into another attempt to take on his true form… Sakura was more than his master and Clow's chosen successor, she was his dearest friend. Whatever it was that threatened her, it needed to be stopped, _now_. But his form refused to change… He tightened his focus and strained until beads of sweat broke across his brow, but still nothing happened. The more he strained, the weaker he seemed to become… now he could hardly even move, let alone speak. _"S-SAKURA…!"_ Damn it all, what was wrong with him? Why was he so _weak…?_

A flash of green streaked by at the edge of his vision. Shaoran was on his feet, his handsome features contorted with rage. _"Get away from her!"_ It didn't sound like Shaoran's voice at all... _Jian_ in hand, he charged for the monster, raising the blade high for a deadly blow…

_Clang._

From the ground, Sakura gaped, refusing to believe her eyes. The monster's arm now bent backward at an impossible angle, one that would have torn it from the socket of a normal human. Without even looking back, its fingers had caught the blade, and it held the edge mere inches from its skull. The mechanical whirring of its lenses quickened, and its vertebrae creaked as its head turned… and turned, and turned, and turned, swiveling a full 180 degrees to stare back at Shaoran. _Whirr, click_ went the lenses, the shutters inside opening wide. There was a slick, wet, tearing sound. A long metal blade emerged from the palm of its free hand, identical to the blade of Shaoran's _jian_, and- _"Shaoran-kun, watch out!"_

Only that warning and blind instinct saved Shaoran from being cleaved in two. He rolled backward, out of the way, missed death by a fraction of an inch. The creature's blade descended in a savage downward stroke, a perfect _pǐ_, gouging a furrow in the cement. Abandoning Sakura for the moment, it readjusted its contorted body, raised its sword from the furrow… and to Shaoran's astonishment, it assumed a Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg stance, pointing the tip of its weapon at him as it balanced. "How…?"

_"Shaoran!"_

A lunging stab aimed at his midsection. Shaoran's years of Taijiquan training kicked in; he recognized the technique (_Ci_) and which one he should use to block (_Dai_)_. _He raised the flat of his blade to the creature to deflect it. Sparks flew as the weapons clashed against each other, the blow rattling him to his bones. The monster moved like water, like a snake, flowing seamlessly into an overhand counter-blow (_Ya_), then from there to a warding strike (_Peng) _designed to knock him off his guard. Its form was flawless, just like the master swordsmen that had trained him as a child. Shaoran's insides went cold with sudden realization: _No, it's not copying my masters' techniques. It's copying _mine_…_ _it's learned all my moves!_ "Sakura!" he shouted, fighting to keep his voice level. Couldn't let her see him panic. "Sakura, I don't think-" _Crash_. Again the blades met, but this time the creature put all its weight down on him, trying to force him to break his defensive stance, just as he would have done to gain the upper hand… "-I can hold it off much longer!"

"Hold on, Shaoran-kun! I'll-" Sakura pawed frantically through the Cards. _SWORD and SHIELD are both changed, so is SLEEP… FREEZE, POWER, SHOT, and FIGHT are transparent, barely there… what should I do?! Please, someone, what should I-_

Perhaps it was the remaining unaltered Cards' guidance. Perhaps it was the spirit of Clow Reed moving through her. She didn't know what it was for sure, but something made her look up and look past the battle between Shaoran and the monster. Something made her eyes fall on the figure lying motionless at the foot of the King Penguin slide, staring up at the night sky.

Tomoyo's skin was unnaturally pale… even from this distance, Sakura could tell she was white as a sheet. Her lovely, kind eyes were open and empty… expressionless, so unlike her… reflecting starlight that she could not see. Visible in her chest, just a little left of center, there was a mark… no, a _hole_… in the shape of a black heart. Sakura watched, paralyzed, her breath frozen in her lungs, waiting for Tomoyo's chest to rise or fall, or for her to stir, or for some indication, any indication that her best friend was still alive.

Tomoyo didn't move. She wasn't breathing.

_It stole her heart._ The truth of what it had done penetrated the numbness that had descended over Sakura like a blanket. She didn't know _how_ she knew that, she just _knew._ _That thing… it stole her _heart…

It was as if Sakura's vision expanded to encompass the entire park. Without looking away from Tomoyo's body, she saw the creature gradually driving Shaoran back, moving in for the kill. She saw Kero on the ground, beating his small wings in a feeble attempt to get back up. She saw the black heart in the center of the monster's chest… the heart that belonged to Tomoyo…

A great raging flame burst to life in Sakura's soul, dispelling the cold, the numbness, the fear… She spun on one heel, Clow's magic circle shining at her feet, and she glared at the monster that hurt Kero and Shaoran, that twisted Tomoyo's feelings, stole her heart, and left her lying there lifeless… _"You…!"_

Startled by the sudden flaring of Sakura's aura, the monster ceded its advance on Shaoran, turned to face the Cardcaptor, opened the apertures in its lenses wide… and froze. The closest thing it could feel to mortal terror raced through its being.

Not for nothing was Sakura Kinomoto the chosen successor of Clow Reed. Not for nothing was she known as the most powerful magic-user alive, probably the most powerful to ever live. And now, every iota of her immense power was focused on the _thing_ that dared hurt her friends and loved ones…

_"CLOUD!"_

The creature found itself unable to see. Its shutters clicked frantically, trying to compensate for the sudden bank of thick, cool fog that rose up around it and swallowed it whole. The information it was receiving from its senses baffled it… Where just a second ago there had been an intense aura of magical energy, now there was nothing, not so much as a spark. Its head swiveled around, sweeping over the few inches of unobstructed pavement around it. The rest of the park had melted into that fog… but how was _that_ possible? It wasn't, the creature concluded. Obviously, its brain told it, the rest of the park simply wasn't there anymore. It was alone, isolated in some sort of-

_"JUMP!"_

That sound proved otherwise. Confused, it made another sweeping search of the area, finding nothing. In desperation, it flicked through the various filters of its lenses: infrared, nothing. Night vision, nothing. The sound registered as the Cardcaptor's voice, its primary target, but there was no Cardcaptor. The illogic of it paralyzed the creature. Without targets, and without any way of seeking out _more_ targets, how could it fulfill its function?

_"ARROW!"_

The voice rang out again, this time from above it. Following the sound, the creature looked up. The fog above its head was clearing, revealing a figure silhouetted by a waning crescent moon, wings sprouting from its heels. _There_ was the Cardcaptor; now it could resume following its mission directive. Its apertures opened wide to scan and duplicate whichever spell she was using. It registered two spells in active use: one a simple physical enhancement granting a vastly increased range of vertical motion, and the other seemed to be focused in the twin lines of brilliant light she held back with one hand, pointing down at the creature with the other. _Whirr, click_ went its apertures as the Cardcaptor loosed them both…

An awful electronic screech swept through the fading remnants of CLOUD's fog bank as two arrows of light plunged straight through both lenses. Sakura touched down behind it in a perfect three-point landing, and looked back over her shoulder to watch with grim satisfaction as glowing cracks spread through the thing's body. The arrows' light tore it apart from within… soon, nothing remained of its body but dust, swiftly scattered by the evening breeze. Where it once stood, there was now only the black heart, Tomoyo's heart, hovering in silence. Pinkness blossomed from its center, its leathery bat wings burst into fluffy white feathers…

The mask of rage and grief slid from Sakura's face. Sweet, blessed relief flooded her… somehow, she knew it was going to be all right now. She had done it, she had saved Tomoyo's heart… Clutching her own heart, she stumbled after it as it fluttered back to Tomoyo and sank into her body, filling the hole in her chest. No sooner was it filled than her color returned to normal… Tomoyo blinked slowly and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Sa-"

She was cut off by Sakura throwing her arms around her, sobbing into her shoulder. _"Tomoyo-chan!_ Tomoyo-chan, thank God you're all right, you're back! I was so scared, I thought I'd lost you…"

"It's… it's going to be all right, Sakura-chan," said Tomoyo softly, patting her back with a delicate hand. "Whatever happened, it's going to be all right."

That only made Sakura cry harder.

_"Oi, Sakura!"_ A small yellow shape rather like a plush toy cut through the wisps of fog. Kero intended to go straight for his usual spot on Sakura's shoulder… but he stopped, floating in place as Tomoyo's gaze caught his own. She and Sakura had been best friends long before either he or Shaoran entered her life. Tomoyo understood Sakura in ways that neither of them could, probably better than Sakura understood herself. Coming this close to losing her best friend… Tomoyo's gaze told Kero that Sakura needed just a few moments more.

Plodding footsteps fell behind him. "Hey, _kozou_," said Kero without turning around. "You okay?"

"Barely." Shaoran's breathing was heavy, and one arm clutched the other, hanging awkwardly at his side. "It hurts. A lot…"

"I'll bet."

His brows knit together. "All that thing did was look at me, and it knew my Taijiquan. How did it do that? What _was_ it, anyway?"

Kero hated what he had to say next, but lying wasn't going to help anyone. "I don't know," he admitted, crossing his arms. "I've honestly got no idea."

A chill passed through Shaoran at those words. "You… you said you felt dark energy. Was it the Sorceress, maybe?" He was grasping at straws, but still…

"Couldn't be." Kero shook his head. "She passed on, we all saw it. We all _felt_ it. This was different. It wasn't created by Eastern _or_ Western magic, or by Clow, or by Sakura…"

The chill intensified. Shaoran rubbed his arm. "So who does that leave?"

"Nobody," said Kero, his voice low and ominous, devoid of his usual cheer. "Near as I can tell, _nobody_ could have created it… and nobody has enough power to pull off whatever was done to the Sakura Cards, either. What's happening should be flat out impossible."

Tomoyo looked up at them both. "I don't understand," she said quietly, so as not to upset Sakura further. "What _is_ happening?"

"You tried to kill me with a knife," said Shaoran, showing remarkable composure under the circumstances. "You said I stole Sakura from you… you don't remember?"

"Oh _no_…" Tomoyo covered her mouth with her free hand, horrified. "Li-kun, I'm so sorry, please forgive me! That isn't how I feel at all! Whatever was I thinking?! I… I don't remember anything… the last thing I recall was talking to that man who came to see me at home, and then…" She paused. "And then I was _here_."

The fur on the back of Kero's neck stood up. "Man? What man?"

"I'm not certain exactly. I wasn't expecting company, he was simply there at the gate when I returned home, and said he had to speak with me." Her brow furrowed. "I can't recall what he looked like, it's all… faint… but he seemed to take an interest in me and Sakura-chan."

"Daidoji, think hard," said Shaoran, kneeling down to her. "Do you remember _anything_ about this man?"

A long moment of silence, broken only by the sound of Sakura's grateful tears. "He asked to examine my camera," said Tomoyo after a long time. "He only touched it for a moment, then handed it back to me… and then-"

"That's gotta be it!" Kero nodded. "Whoever that guy was musta done somethin' weird to your camera! _That's_ what made ya flip out like that!"

"Who was it?" Everyone started; Sakura had suddenly lifted herself from her friend's shoulder, and now wore an expression of grave seriousness. "Who was this person? We've got to find him and-"

"Oh, something tells me that won't be too difficult." A new voice, mocking and sardonic, outwardly cheerful but merciless underneath… Its source was unclear; there was no one else in the park apart from the four of them. "I do apologize, apparently I made that far too easy for you. I'll do better next time, _c'est bien?_"

In a heartbeat, Shaoran was on his feet, _jian_ drawn. "Who are you?!"

The voice continued, drawling. Its every word seemed to drain more warmth from the summer night. "I suppose it's my fault, really. Making a hybrid of a Youma and a Jikochuu was a novel idea, but the result was lacking. Not to mention stupid, _non?_ I expected it to kill at least one of you, two at the most… but it failed to do even that much. Pity, after all the effort it took to corrupt that girl's Psyche, you'd think it would make a better monster."

"You…" Hardly able to believe her ears, Sakura rose, clutching her key with one hand and Tomoyo with the other. That terrible anger began to burn inside her again… "You're the one who made Tomoyo-chan do those awful things…! Who _are_ you?! Show yourself!"

"Sakura-chan…" Tomoyo grasped her arm and squeezed, her eyes haunted. "That's him! That's his voice!"

A pulse crested over them like an ocean wave, a pulse that was darker than pitch, icier than the bitterest midwinter night. There was no sound or flash of light to mark his appearance; he was simply _there_ between one instant and the next, perched atop a nearby street lamp. His presence made the bulb beneath him dim and flicker unsteadily. The stranger was flamboyantly dressed in mostly purples and whites, an entertainer's clothes, topped with a multicolored swirl of hair that resembled a jester's bell cap. He wore a simple white domino mask to hide his eyes, but the eyes of the mask were so dark that they seemed to draw light in from around them, like a pair of black holes... That mask should have been impossible to see out of, but when its eyes traveled over them, they could _feel_ the stranger's gaze as a prickling on their skin, the same way you could feel someone staring at you from behind without turning around to be sure of it. His lips spread wide, revealing a mouthful of sharpened teeth... it was a deranged smile, a bone-chilling smile, mirthless… evil_._ "_Mademoiselles et messieurs_," he called down to them as he sank forward in a deep, sweeping bow. "I belatedly welcome you to the next act of this great comedy. No applause, please… save it for the finale."

_Cold_, was Sakura's first, inexplicable thought. _Why is he so _cold…? The fire within her withered, and she began to tremble despite herself. Clasping her key tightly, she swallowed and tried hard to sound brave… "Wh-who are you?" she asked again. Her voice came out strained and small. "Why are you doing this?"

The stranger rose from his bow. His awful grin stretched wider, wider still, as if his face was about to split. "I? Just a jaunting, jovial jester, japing and jeering with joy and jollity on a jocular journey of jubilant jackanapery…"

"Stop fooling around!" barked Shaoran, edging closer to the others. "The lady asked you a question, so answer it!"

The harlequin let out a high-pitched, trilling giggle. "Stop? But fooling around is one of life's great joys, Monsieur Li! Why, if I couldn't fool around..." He trailed off and put a clawed finger to his chin. "I would just _die._ Again."

"I don't like this," Kero muttered. "I don't like this at all… be careful, you two!"

Tomoyo whimpered and moved behind Sakura. "Sakura-chan, I'm scared…"

"D-don't worry, Tomoyo-chan." In a show of confidence that she in no way felt in herself, Sakura flashed her friend a smile and squeezed her hand. "We'll keep you safe, I promise." Turning back to face the harlequin, she set her lips in a frown. "Tell us why you hurt Tomoyo-chan…! She never did anything to you!"

"It's not that she _did_ anything," said the harlequin with a shrug. "It's more like she exists_,_ really. She exists, and she gives you strength… and that _annoys_ me." On the last few words of that sentence, all the frivolity in his voice fell away at once. It felt like the temperature of the park dropped another ten degrees… "That, and she's such a sickeningly noble little twit… I had to dig down deep into her Psyche just to find _traces_ of real envy for Monsieur Li there. But once I uncovered it..."

"Th-that's not true…!" Tomoyo clutched at her chest. "I… I'm happy for Li-kun and Sakura-chan, I've always been happy for them!"

"Stop it," whispered Sakura. Then, much louder: "Stop telling lies about her! Leave her alone!"

"Lies? I'm only speaking the truth." That high-pitched giggle again... "If your precious Tomoyo-chan was truly that unselfish in her feelings, I would never have been able to corrupt her at all..."

Kero gritted his teeth and balled his tiny fists. "Don't listen to him, don't believe a word of what he's sayin'! I know this type, he's just tryin' to get a rise out of ya!"

"It's working…" There was a snarl in Shaoran's voice. Both of his hands gripped the hilt of his sword so hard that his knuckles turned white. "I say we shut that big mouth of his! Sakura!"

"I know just the card… _RELEASE!_" Once more, the key expanded into the Clow Staff. In an eyeblink, a Sakura Card was in her hand. "_Stop him from telling more lies! VOICE!"_ With more force than usual, she slammed the staff's head against the VOICE, unleashing its power. An angelic pink spirit emerged from within and rose up to Joker's level, extending its hands as if to grasp something from him. Vivid pink ribbons of energy spiraled in his direction...

Above, the harlequin placed a hand to his brow in mock distress. "Oh no, oh dear! Whatever shall I do?" Then that mad grin as he answered his own question: "Fight fire with fire, I suppose!" He snapped his fingers and spoke a word that send a thunderbolt of fear through the four watching from below: _"SHIELD."_

VOICE's ribbons crashed against a sphere of solidified air. The harlequin floated within it, unharmed… and in front of him hovered the SHIELD's winged emblem, darkened and twisted. More chains than ever wrapped around it, and its surface was dyed black…

The four below gaped, astonished. Shaoran nearly lost his grip on his _jian_. Tomoyo's hands flew over her lips, her eyes wide with terror. Kero shook his head almost dazedly, mouthing the same word over and over: _Impossible. Impossible…_

And Sakura merely stared at the emblem of the SHIELD, one of her most trusted Cards, one of her _friends_, with her mind a total blank.

As the VOICE returned to its Card form and settled back into Sakura's hand, the SHIELD did the same for its new master. It was hard to make out, but it appeared that the back of the Card was now solid black. The harlequin laughed a cold, cruel laugh and palmed the SHIELD, making it vanish. "Quite a trick, _non?_ Don't make that face, Mademoiselle Sakura, I know you're as fond of cards as I am. Surely we can't share a few? In fact…" He snapped his fingers again. Another card appeared between his fingers. "... to make up for it, I'll let you see _my_ card. Catch." Casually he tossed it down to them. The new card curved as it fell, and came to rest hovering before Sakura's face.

By all appearances, it was a simple, non-magical playing card, the kind found in any standard deck. It was emblazoned with a hooded Grim Reaper, skull-faced and bearing a scythe, and below that was a single word, spelled out in thick black letters: **JOKER**.

"Jo-" The sight of the word… no, the _name_… froze Sakura's blood in her veins. Terror that she could in no way explain or justify seized her heart in an iron grip, and squeezed, and squeezed… Looking at the name on the card was like looking at the scene of a horrible accident: it was impossible to look away, no matter how desperately she wanted to. There was something deep inside her, deeper than herself, that beheld that name and was as terrified as she was… no, _moreso_… _This is wrong_, it seemed to howl. _This is all wrong… Danger. Disaster. Calamity. It's all gone wrong…_

And the words stirred a faint memory in Sakura from the night before: thinking those same words as something awful happened around her and she was helpless to stop it...

_It's all wrong… Heaven help us, it's all _wrong...

_"SAKURA!"_ A sharp _crack_ accompanied a stinging pain on her cheek. Kero floated in front of her, teeth gritted, his tiny paw raised. "Sakura, ya gotta snap out of it! You're the only one that can stop that clown and get SHIELD back!"

Sakura raised a trembling hand to her cheek. She slapped herself lightly, winced, set her bottom lip, and nodded. "You're right. Thanks, Kero-chan. Shaoran, with me! Tomoyo-chan, you and Kero-chan take cover!"

"Got it!"

"Be careful, Sakura-chan, Li-kun…"

Once more they sprung into action, just like in the old days… Sakura and Shaoran working as a pair, the invincible duo. Tomoyo watched from behind a nearby park bench as the Cardcaptor took flight, FLY's feathery wings sprouting from her back and launching her upward to Joker's level. Below her, Shaoran circled around the lamp post, taking position behind the harlequin. From his sleeve he drew a _jufu_, one of the enchanted paper talismans that his magic favored.

_ "Raitei Shourai!"_

_"WINDY!"_

At the Cardcaptor's command, WINDY'S curls encircled Joker, wrapping around him and pulling tight. Forks of lightning cascaded upward from Shaoran's _jufu_, coursing through the harlequin's body. His high-pitched scream split the night…

… and then he was gone, his shape fading into an eye-crossing kaleidoscope pattern…

"That _bastard…_" Kero snarled, his eyes narrowing. "He hasn't just got SHIELD, he's usin' ILLUSION! Sakura's still got that Card... it's changed, but how the hell did he- _Sakura!_"

An eyeblink, and the real Joker was behind Sakura, wielding a long, thin rapier with a wicked point. He charged with a cackle of glee, bearing down on her like an incoming missile.

_"SWORD!_"

The Card activated with less than a second to spare, and Joker's blade crashed against that of Sakura's transformed staff. They danced through the air, a tornado of razor edges, their movements a blur, perfect mirrors for each other.

Reduced to watching helplessly from below, Shaoran tried to follow the frantic back-and-forth of the ringing swords. There was no way to support Sakura with another _jufu_ without the risk of hitting her as well as Joker, they were too close to one another. _Damn it, come on..._

"Th… that's SWORD's power, isn't it?" Tomoyo whispered to Kero, the flying sparks from the blades reflecting in her eyes. "How is it possible that he and Sakura-chan can use the same Card at the same time?"

Kero's paws clenched and unclenched. "I don't know." He was growing awfully tired of using those words.

"Sakura-chan captured all the Cards, didn't she? They're all her friends!"

"She did, and they are. That's how it's supposed to be. But this Joker guy, whoever he is… he's somehow messed with the way things are supposed to be… and if he's got the power it takes to do that…"

Each crash of the blades reverberated up Sakura's arm, jangling her nerves. SWORD's unique magic still guided her, feeding her a technique or counter for each blow, but she was gradually wearing down, expending too much magic, and nothing SWORD could do could help with that… _Have to stop him,_ she thought, wincing as Joker's rapier came down with the weight of a sledgehammer on the raised flat of her sword. _Have to stop him..._

Both weapons locked in an X-shape, and Joker grinned, drawing in close, close enough that his breath washed over her. "This _is_ fun, Mademoiselle! You've far exceeded my expectations! I honestly didn't think you'd last this long... You're Clow Reed's successor, to be sure, but you're no fighter… not without the proper motivation, anyway..."

Sakura recoiled in disgust. "How did you know- Who _are_ you? Why are you doing this?!" she asked again. A twinge went through her back muscles in protest, she was straining too hard to break the stalemate.

"I told you: I'm Joker. As for 'why': I want to bring it all to an _end_." His ghastly smile spread so wide that his cheeks should have torn open. "And as for '_how_'... well, let's just say I know _everything_. I can see everything, be anywhere… and take anything that I want. Including your Cards… the ones I'm interested in, anyway. If you noticed, I let you keep a few that are, shall we say, less than useful to me. Honestly, bubbles? Sweets? _Singing?_ I'm not sure what Monsieur Clow was thinking with those..."

"You're going-" she panted as she finally broke away, then made a series of advancing slices. "- to give back-" Joker's rapier parried each one. "- all of my friends!"

The harlequin pulled back a few feet and wagged a finger at her, as if chastising a naughty child. "Tsk tsk, now you're just being obstinate. That's unattractive in a young lady, you know?" He giggled madly. "Now then, as I said, this _is_ fun… but it's growing late, and all the players haven't assembled yet. I already have all I need from you and your world, little Cardcaptor, so I think it's time to drop the curtain on this scene, _non?_"

"What are you-"

Three playing cards appeared between his fingers, all jokers. With a casual flick of his wrist, he sent them plunging downward, Sakura heard the hiss as they passed her… they were slicing through the air like knives…

Three cards. Three people down below. _No…!_

Sakura dove, pulling her wings in tight. The wind roared in her ears, her heart was a thundering drumbeat against her ribs, her veins were flooded with ice… _I'm not going to make it. Not going to make it in time. _Time… the phantom, transparent Cards raced through her mind. _TIME, SHOT, FREEZE, and ERASE_ _are all transparent… can't use them… did he steal them, too? SHIELD might work, but I don't have enough magic left to cover all three at once… _She could barely think, needed more _time, _needed to be just a bit faster… _Faster_. That Card could work, couldn't it? It was still a normal Sakura Card, so it had to work. It had to… It materialized in her hand, and she called its name… _"DASH!"_

DASH's power flowed through her, and yet more of her magic drained away, leaving dark spots on the edges of her vision. Now the roar of the wind became a deafening scream as the speed of her fall increased drastically. The first of Joker's cards grew closer. She could almost reach it… not enough time to catch the two cards heading for the others, but time enough to warn them… Her fingers grasped its edge, but it slipped away. On her second try she snatched it out of the air, held it to her chest, then screamed down at the three below with all the breath she could spare… _"_EVERYONE, _WATCH OUT!" _Her hand closed around the card, crushing it in her fist. But the card wasn't solid anymore, it oozed from between her fingers as streams of black liquid, coiling around her- "Wha-?!" They squeezed tight, drove the air from her lungs...

_"Sakura!" _Panic seized Shaoran's heart. She was falling much too fast, there would be no way for her to spread her wings and pull up before she hit… Not enough time to use a _jufu_ and dodge the card aiming for him… Had to think fast, only one course of action… _Sakura, forgive me!_ _"Fuuka Shourai!"_ Green winds blew forth from the paper, surrounded Sakura and slowed her fall. He could hear the whistling above him now as the card fell like a bolt from the heavens. _Sakura_, he thought, closing his eyes and willing his final thought to her before it carved him in two…

The sound he had been dreading, the sound of Sakura hitting cement at deadly velocity… never came. Instead, he heard and felt his spell dissipate, gently lowering Sakura to the ground unharmed.

And bizarrely, he was still alive… Shaoran risked a glance upward. The card hovered over him, changing shape, bursting into a flurry of black snakes… no, not snakes, _ropes…_ Cantonese curses spewed forth from him as they constricted, pinning his arms. He lost his balance, the pavement rushed up at him…

* * *

><p><em>"Shaoran! SAKURA!"<em>

That was Kero's voice. Sakura shook herself, registering shock that she wasn't hurt by the fall… she supposed she must have blacked out, but she dimly recalled a bubble of green energy surrounding her before everything went dark…

_"Sakura-chan!"_

And that was Tomoyo. Thank God, the cards must have missed them both. The furious swearing from farther away had to be Shaoran. So they were all alive… she wanted to weep with relief.

But if the cards weren't meant to kill them, then _why_…?

Tomoyo's voice again. "_Sakura-cha-_"

Then a sound, the sound of a thin edge slicing the air. An impact with something soft and yielding, followed by silence.

Sakura's eyes flew open.

Tomoyo stood motionless behind Kero, her eyes wide with shock. A breathless little _"Oh!"_ escaped her lips. As if in slow motion, Sakura saw Kero turn around to look behind him… it seemed to take a thousand years for him to turn… and even longer for the first red spots to well up from around the card half-embedded in Tomoyo's chest.

She fell as if underwater, gracefully sinking to the pavement. Her hands made feeble grasping motions at the card as her dress grew redder and redder, a sluggish, spreading, deep crimson stain...

The silence was broken.

_"TOMOYO-CHAN!"_

_ "TOMOYO!"_

_ "DAIDOJI!"_

Tomoyo's fingers found a grip on the card. It let off a fat spark of dark magic that sank into her fingertips… She gazed at them with a puzzled expression as they dissolved into tiny particles of violet light, particles that were drawn into the card's surface as if by a vacuum.

_"TOMOYO-CHAN, NO! TOMOYO-CHAN!"_

_"Tomoyo, hang on!"_ Kero was before her now, pulling at the card with every ounce of his tiny body's limited strength. It refused to budge… its edges pulsed with energy, the process accelerated, and more of Tomoyo's body disintegrated. Caught in the pulse, Kero was tossed away from her like a rag doll.

_"TOMOYO-CHAN!" _Sakura wriggled frantically, inching across the pavement. The card she held had transformed into thick black ropes that held her arms to sides and tied her wrists together. It didn't matter, it didn't matter if she couldn't use her arms; as long as she reached Tomoyo in time- Losing her balance, she stumbled, felt the cool cement scrape her cheek. _"TOMOYO-CHAN!"_ Shaoran and Kero were shouting too, but she could barely hear them. She could barely hear herself over the howling of her thoughts: _Not Tomoyo-chan! Not Tomoyo-chan, please! I have to save her, I -_

Most of Tomoyo was broken down now, turned into specks of light and pulled into the card's surface. Only her head and upper body were left. Somehow, she turned to Sakura and met her eyes. Against all sense, she smiled, that same beautiful Tomoyo smile that she always wore. Her lips moved… her words were clear and unafraid, even as her shape faded.

"Everything will be all right, Sakura-chan. Everything wi-"

Then Tomoyo was gone. The card fell to the ground, now bearing a picture of her face, its edges smoking.

Sakura screamed… an inarticulate wail of loss that echoed through the stillness of the park for a long time before finally petering out.

Tomoyo's card flipped itself upright and sailed into Joker's hand. Floating down from above, he sat atop the King Penguin slide, his smile somehow even more horrible as he held the card up to the moonlight, examining it. "_Quelle surprise_, I've caught the Tomoyo-chan Card! I suppose this makes me a Cardcaptor too, _non?_"

There was no answer. Sakura stared at the pavement, paralyzed by grief. Little wet spots appeared on the ground beneath her, one after another. Some part of her recognized that she was crying, though she couldn't feel the tears at all. She couldn't feel anything, she was… hollow… as empty as one of her lost Cards...

"You…" Through sheer force of will, Shaoran climbed to his feet. No other words seemed to be vile enough to complete that sentence, so he merely glared at Joker, glared at him with all the loathing that he could muster. _"You…!"_

Again with that damned smile, the devil's smile. Joker tilted his head. _"Moi?"_

"Why…" The word was hoarse, barely audible. Sakura turned to the harlequin, her tormentor, in stunned disbelief. No one could be this cruel without a reason, no one… it just didn't make sense… "You… you k-k-killed Tomoyo-chan… _why…?_"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic, Mademoiselle," said Joker, lazily waving a hand. "She's not _dead_, it was just a trick. A jest, if you will. The blood effect wasn't quite as realistic as I'd hoped, but _c'est la vie._ Your precious Tomoyo-chan is still here…" Whatever was behind the black eyes of the domino mask he wore began to glow a blazing red and orange, like the fires of Hell. The glow plunged the rest of his face into shadow, until all that could be seen were those nightmarish eyes and his grotesque smile. "Alive, in the same state she was when she was sealed. So, in considerable pain… but alive. Ask your Card friends about it, I'm sure they'll be able to relate."

It was as if a spear of ice pierced through Sakura's belly. The numbness of her grief was replaced by bitter cold… _The Cards… I hurt them? No, that can't be… it's not true… and Tomoyo… Tomoyo is alive, but he's hurting her…_

_ He's hurting her,_ she thought, with sudden, awful clarity, _because of me..._

_"I'll kill you!"_ The roar sprung from Shaoran like some wild beast escaping from a cage. His chest swelled, and the ropes binding him snapped. Retrieve his _jian_ and gripping it with a shaking hand, he drew another _jufu_, laid it against the flat of the blade, and bellowed: _"KASEI SHOURAI!"_

Joker was swallowed by flame. There was no other way to describe it… it was not a stream but a _wall_ of scarlet fire that erupted from the _jufu_ and devoured the harlequin in an inferno the size of a house. Visible inside it only as a faint, writhing shadow, Joker howled in agony…

Shaoran didn't hear him, didn't watch. In an instant, he was by Sakura's side, holding her close. "Sakura…" She quivered in his arms… she felt too small to him, helpless, like a lost baby bird. He had never seen her so… so _broken_. Even during the shock of the Final Judgment, she had never been like this. "Sakura, we'll get her back."

"Shao-" His name caught in her throat.

"We'll get her back," he repeated. "I promise we'll get her back, and we'll make him _pay._ Please, don't cry…"

"Shaoran," she breathed, taking strength from his presence, as she always did. She sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, then raised her head and smiled at him. "Thank you…"

Behind them, the flames burned on, casting embers to the sky. Sakura and Shaoran rose hand in hand, then turned to face the fire…

"Well, isn't _this_ a sickening display." Out he came, striding easily from out of the inferno as if it were air, casually flicking away the tongues of smoldering fire that clung to his clothes. "A fine attack that was, Monsieur Li. Quite unexpected. I was almost concerned for, oh, a few seconds." Joker stared at them both, at their clasped hands, the eyes of his mask black and empty once more. "Of course, I'll be in far more danger if you continue spouting your drivel to each other. I've a delicate composition, you see… pointless human affection just makes me _ill._"

"It's not pointless!" Sakura aimed her staff at him. However he had stolen or copied SHIELD and the other Cards, it didn't much matter. SHIELD's presence alone made nearly all methods of attack pointless, save for SWORD. _But if I follow SWORD up with another Card… _"You're going to give my friend back, or-"

"Or _what?_" All the levity and mockery vanished from Joker's voice, and the inexplicable frigid sensation that he triggered inside Sakura worsened, like spiders with feet of ice crawling up and down her spine... "You're not a fighter, Mademoiselle. You're not a killer. You don't rely on your power, you rely on your _love_ and _hope_ and _friendship_." He spat the words out as a curse. "You're one of the worst of them all. At least the others have some fire to them. Or _had_."

A few feet away, Kero stirred, rubbing the growing bruise on the back of his head. Only part of that last sentence registered with him, but it gave him pause. _Others? What is he talking about?_

The hellish flames behind the eyes of Joker's mask lit up again as he advanced. "It doesn't matter. In the end, even your power doesn't matter. The only constant in all the worlds… is that there _is_ no constant." The flames danced, and the awful smile slid off his face, his lips tightening into a grim, hard line that was somehow worse… far, far worse. "No meaning. No consistency. No purpose. I've seen the end, Mademoiselle Sakura, and the end is _nothing._ Whatever kind of pathetic life you hope to lead, it will all end in _nothing_."

_Cold… He's too cold…_ Even the warmth of Shaoran's hand was fading. Sakura couldn't move, couldn't speak. Never before had she heard a worldview so heartless… How was it possible? How could anyone or anything exist, thinking that way? Again, she had the bizarre feeling that it wasn't just _her_ being horrified by Joker's words… but that was impossible, wasn't it?

"And while we're on the subject…" As if a switch had been flipped, Joker's smile returned, wider than ever. Another corrupted Card materialized between his thin fingers. "There's an old friend of yours who wants to get reacquainted with you, Mademoiselle Sakura. She's been waiting quite a long time for a rematch, you see..."

Next to him appeared-

"Oh no," whispered Shaoran.

Sakura's hand gripped his like an iron vise as tendrils of pure, icy fear constricted her body, freezing her to her very soul.

Next to Joker was an inky sphere of swirling darkness, and inside it, the figure of a young girl. A young girl with impossibly long tresses of silvery hair, wearing a white dress and an expression of sorrow. Her eyes opened, deep and peaceful blue, and as she gazed at Shaoran and Sakura… her face twisted into an ugly, violent snarl, and her irises shifted to blood red. The NOTHING Card spoke a single word that seethed with hatred, and the dark sphere around her whipped into a frenzy…

"_You…!"_

**END OF CHAPTER 3**


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